Linear alpha-olefins such as 1-hexene, 1-octene, and the like are used in a cleaner, a lubricant, a plasticizer, and so on, and particularly, are widely used as a comonomer for adjusting the density of a polymer during the preparation of linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE).
Such linear alpha-olefins have been mostly prepared through a shell higher olefin process. However, since the method synthesizes alpha-olefins of various lengths together according to Schultz-Flory distribution, there is an inconvenience of needing an additional separation process in order to obtain a specific alpha-olefin.
In order to resolve this problem, a method of selectively synthesizing 1-hexene through a trimerization reaction of ethylene or a method of selectively synthesizing 1-octene through tetramerization of ethylene were suggested. Further, various studies on catalysts enabling such selective oligomerization of ethylene are being progressed.